


The Real Right Hand Man

by ElrondsScribe



Category: American Revolution RPF, Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: And The Inherently Fucked Up Dynamics Therein, Black Character(s), Gen, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Slavery, Very Lightly Implied But The Referenced Events Were Intense, Written for Black History Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 10:01:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29732184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElrondsScribe/pseuds/ElrondsScribe
Summary: Exactly 505 words of Billy Lee - 101 words per drabble; roughly the back half of Season 2 of TURN. Written in something of a white heat for Black History Month, because Billy Lee doesn't get nearly enough love in this fandom.(It was supposed to be 101 words per drabble? I'm not sure what's up with the word count on AO3.)
Relationships: William "Billy" Lee & George Washington
Comments: 5
Kudos: 6





	1. Unreadable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set before S2 Ep7 'Valley Forge.'

Billy doesn’t know what to make of the way General Washington looks at him sometimes. **  
**

He can’t be sure of anything, as the General’s bearing is typically impassive and reserved, but he thinks he occasionally catches a sharp gleam in the General’s eye or a peculiar twist of his lip just before he says “That will be all for the moment, William,” or “You’re dismissed for the night, William.”

It makes Billy uneasy. He can manage a General made irritable, even unreasonable, by the stresses of the war; he’s not so sure about a General he can’t read.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this first drabble is halfway between TURN and history, because Billy Lee is only featured in like six episodes of the show. If you don’t know, the historical William Lee was freakin’ amazing. He was Washington’s body slave – pardon me, valet – during the war and was, in the truest sense, Washington’s actual right hand man.
> 
> I find the historical George Washington’s relationship with slavery really interesting, though I’m sure other black Americans will probably feel different. He remained a slaveowner till the day he died, and he only directly freed one slave in his will (Billy Lee, wouldn’t you know!). He signed the Fugitive Slave Act into law, and exploited loopholes in Pennsylvania’s antislavery laws so he could keep having slaves in Philadelphia while he was President, and stuff like that. But he also seems to have developed very ambivalent feelings about slavery during the Revolutionary War, and later to be aware that slavery was something that people would later hold against him – as indeed I do! But I also can’t help but be fascinated by the internal elements of that conflict.
> 
> I also have no idea how the real Billy Lee would have felt about … well, anything. I almost feel I don’t have the right to write the internal world of an enslaved man, even a fictionalized version, but then who does? I’ve written Billy here as mainly focused on surviving by serving Washington (and being super fucking competent at it), and picking up that Washington is working something out internally.


	2. The Watch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set at the very end of S2 Ep7 'Valley Forge.'

The General’s pocket watch — _Lawrence Washington’s_ watch — is in Billy’s satchel.

The watch that is Lawrence’s final gift to his brother — and the fresh bruises around his throat prove how raw the General still is over Lawrence’s loss — is in Billy’s satchel.

(He sees again the crazed look in the General’s eyes as his great hands close around his throat, remembers that instant of knowing that _he is going to die_.)

(He hears again the General’s voice as he leaves the tent: “Thank you, William.”)

He clasps the watch between his hands, and the night seems a little less cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this lil’ drabble is obviously a little more based in TURN canon than was my last one, though I do see this drabble as a followup. Like I’ve said, Valley Forge is my favorite episode of TURN, and one of my favorite things about it is how much characterization both Billy and Washington get (and can I just say that Billy Lee just might be the bravest male character in the cast of TURN?).
> 
> Now y’all are well within your rights to jump all over me for implying that Billy might feel some attachment or pity or even gratitude toward Washington, especially after Washington abused him like that. All I can say in my own defense is that I remain fascinated by both the fictionalized and RL versions of the Washington-Lee dynamic, and I write as the muse speaks.


	3. Out of Options

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set during S2 Ep9 'The Prodigal.'

“I’m sorry, Sir,” Billy faces Major Tallmadge. “He won’t see you.”

Tallmadge turns from staring after Washington. “Does he still hold me in such contempt?” he says despondently. “He wouldn’t even meet my eye.” And he turns again to leave.

Billy feels he is running out of options. He trusts Lee even less after that boot-licking, horseshit apology. That the General not only seems to believe him, but has entrusted him with half the army … 

(He’s seemed so much better, after that horrible night … but how can Billy know … )

Billy makes a decision. “Wait!” he calls after Tallmadge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obviously we’re firmly embedded in TURN canon at this point.
> 
> So as you can see, I was really struck by the moment in ‘The Prodigal’ where Billy Lee makes the decision to confide in Ben. I’m aware that the ‘real’ reason for this is Plot Convenience, so Tallmadge can Know Things, but I also like to believe that, in-universe, Billy is making a very dangerous choice here. Talking about his master’s affairs and mental health behind his back, to a subordinate officer? That would’ve taken desperation and a lot of guts. But we already knew TURN’s Billy Lee is brave AF, because we saw ‘Valley Forge.’ Go Billy!
> 
> I’m also struggling to find ANYTHING like a sample of the historical Billy Lee’s own voice. You know, letters he might have written and stuff like that. I keep waiting for someone to call me out for being disrespectful by writing fanfic about a fictionalized version of the man, but so far I’ve gotten away with it.


	4. Transparent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set vaguely during S2 Ep9 'The Prodigal.'

Billy blinks at the General. “Beg pardon, sir?”

“We are following Lee to Monmouth,” Washington says crisply.

And Billy understands.

It is Lee, not Washington, who is being played for a fool. Washington is not blindly giving Lee the offensive – he is giving Lee enough rope to hang himself with.

Did he know, then, that Billy might let something slip to Major Tallmadge? Has he perceived Billy’s fear for his wellbeing, used it to manipulate Tallmadge as well as Lee?

Feeling as transparent as a windowpane, Billy nods. “Yes, sir,” he says, and leaves to give the men their marching orders.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one, as you can tell, follows fairly quickly on the heels of the last one, though the timeline here is slightly more ambiguous. Basically, it’s Billy Lee realizing that Washington has just been playing him like an instrument – because I don’t see any other way of reading the scene with Ben (or the war council scene where Billy all but makes Help Me eyes at the camera) in light of the added context that Washington Knew All Along.
> 
> And here’s the thing about slavery: slavers as a class tend to be really fuckin’ unperceptive about their slaves’ emotional state, while slaves (especially slaves like Billy Lee who work closely with their masters) basically have to become telepaths to get by. So I’d imagine there’s this little bit of security, if you’re a Billy Lee kind of slave, in the knowledge that your master probably isn’t paying close enough attention to accurately guess what you’re thinking or feeling.
> 
> The instability that I’m exploring here is kinda the flip side of the one that I explored in my first drabble: in that one, Billy feels uncertain because he can’t read Washington. Here, he feels uncertain because Washington has not only read him, but has successfully manipulated him by doing so. Poor anxious Billy, whomst I love, why do I so torment thee?
> 
> And why do I love writing duplicitous, 4D-chess-playing Washington this much? Why have I generally enjoyed writing problematic!Washington this much? It’s like the more problematic I think he is, the more I love him! What is wrong with me?


	5. A Breath

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Set just after the end of S2 Ep10 'Gunpowder, Treason, and Plot.'

“Will you be needing anything else, General?”

General Washington looks up from his desk, his expression cryptic. He stares at Billy for a long moment, and Billy has again that uncomfortable feeling of being seen through.

Then the General says, “It’s been a long day, William. Get some rest. Wake me at my usual hour in the morning.”

Billy nods, stifling a breath of relief. “Yes, sir.”

On the way back to his tent, he catches Major Tallmadge’s eye; the young man gives him a sharp, short nod. Billy wonders briefly if Tallmadge (or the General) will ever grow weary of espionage.

Probably not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final drabble in this lil’ arc! This is basically the end of TURN season 2.
> 
> Wow, I don’t even know where this whole little series of drabbles came from! They sort of just exploded from my brain over the past couple of weeks because I wanted some good Billy Lee content, to start writing fanfic again, and to make something fannish for Black History Month.
> 
> I do hope this last drabble doesn’t come across as me trying to ‘tie a bow’ on anything! I just consider each of these drabbles to be a string of snapshots in TURN’s Billy Lee’s life, and this one just happens to end on … a little breath of relief …
> 
> I also don’t know when I’ll write more Billy Lee fic. This whole little series wasn’t planned, it just kinda spilled out of my head. Also, this is the easiest bit of TURN’s narrative for which to write Billy Lee fic (because the back half of Season 2 does constitute most of his screentime), so I’m not sure how to write for him going forward. I’ll probably figure it out, because I do love him a lot and I want to make more content for him. Characterizing both him and Washington has been so much fun!


End file.
